Anyway—08・03・01
by dear KiSMETT
Summary: NejiTen—Eight letters / three words / one meaning. When everything goes wrong, some things never change. They have their beginning, their in-betweens, but no ending. It’s up for them to figure it out.


_**NARUTO© officially belongs to the rights of Kishimoto Masashi.**_

_**(**__.dear KISMETT__** simply demands some share.) **_

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**summary: **Eight letters / three words / one meaning. When everything goes wrong, some things never change. They have their beginning, their in-betweens, but no ending. It's up for them to figure it out.

**character pairing: **_Neji_ **x** _Tenten_. (Others lightly mentioned.)

**set:** alternate universe (AU).

**to-do:** Read for your own good. Sometimes potential cliché-ness is good for your health. Make sure to enjoy. :D

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**Anyway—08.03.01**

+ **_.dear KISMETT_** +

_(Best Friends Thinks It's Juicy._

_They Ditch And You Deal.)_

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"—and so that's how it happened." Tenten, a seventeen-year-old young woman, ended after wasting a perfectly straight two-hour range of ranting about her ever first (and possibly last) issue of ex-boyfriend problems.

The pink haired maiden across from her gaped sympathetically. "But _how_—?"

"…."

"No, I mean…WHY? But _why_? You guys—you were—" Sakura didn't even know how to begin. It was unexpected. But then again, expect the unexpected.

Beside her, Ino, the ever so platinum blonde princess, scrunched up her nose. "I can't believe this. You were both pathetic." She paused. "And of course, _that_ was the lamest breakup EVER."

"I know. And I came here for comfort, not for some drama. You two aren't making me feel any better. At all," Tenten said as she took a long sip of her vanilla smoothie. Then, she belched. "Yuck. Dang it, Sakura, this stinks."

Curious, Sakura asked. "What's wrong with it?"

"It's vanilla." Tenten snapped, "_His_ freakin' favorite flavor."

"_Oh_." Sakura huffed, "Sorry. I didn't know."

Ino rolled her eyes. "You're unbelievable." She told Tenten.

"…."

"_You_ just broke up with one of the hottest thing in this whole wide universe! And you're not even making a huge fuss about it."

"…Is it supposed to be a big deal?"

"_YES_!" This time, Sakura decided to join Ino.

"But _I_ was the one who broke up with him."

"Exactly _why_ it's a big deal," Ino sighed hysterically.

"I mean, I did the right thing, right? I think I did." Tenten said, voice not quite reaching her own ears. "We didn't really feel like…you know? Right."

Sakura narrowed her eyes. "Stupid. Absolutely stupid! You guys were _perfect_! It was, like, sparks flew all around you."

Her friends weren't helping and she didn't know why she was the one feeling awful out of the blue, when she knew _he_ was the one who should. Maybe. But Tenten mumbled, "In fantasy world, we _were_ perfect. In fantasy world, sparks _flew_. But we're living reality here. It's the complete opposite."

Her friends fell silent and gave her looks of disappointment and sympathy.

Tenten continued. "I never really understood why I agreed to go out with him in the first place, anyways." She paused. "But I guess I wasn't really thinking straight at that time."

"Since when did you ever think straight?" Ino snorted. "You just freakin' broke up with a total richie and _that's_ something to clarify your mental disorder."

Sakura elbowed her with a small glare. She turned to Tenten, who was ready to spit out her smoothie on the blonde. "Ino _has_ a point, not to be rude or anything. This is something big to deal with easily."

Sighing, Tenten leaned back on her chair. The café's soothing music filling her ears and making her feel slightly comfortable. "You're right. I am pathetic."

"Do you…still, you _know_?" Sakura hesitated. "Love him…?"

Tenten glanced at her in surprised, but quickly covered it up. "No! Of course not. I _thought_ I was in love with him. But not really." She sighed and kept on, "I _liked_ him. And that was it. We weren't really lovers' material but we were together for a pretty long period of time. At first, it was unbelievable. But I _knew_ it wouldn't last."

"And voila! We come into this mess," Ino finished. "A completely pathetic mess of breakup. You guys were together for whole freakin' eight months. Instead of completing at least a year, you turn him off."

Tenten shrugged. "I'm not sulking because of it, Ino. I'm just…feeling stupid about myself because I _went_ out with him, which frankly, wasn't a very smart thing to do."

"Sure." Ino said, "Whatever you say."

"I can't believe you just let him go, though." Sakura said, "He was one of the Populars, and when he chose you over, you go and dump him later. That's…" she trailed off when Tenten's eyes shot her a very meaningful look.

"I don't care about the looks! I care about the _feelings_," Tenten rolled her eyes. "But to be honest, I felt better when I broke up with him. It didn't feel very right before. I _think_."

Ino sniffed her mocha smoothie and said, "You're just not familiar with the feeling of love, honey. You two, by no single mistake, _are_ perfect, and don't even try to deny it. You were just being doubtful because maybe you don't want to take things so fast. Thus, resulting into this mess."

"Gee, thanks." Tenten sighed even heavier.

"I swear this breakup was an absolute misunderstand _and_ mistake," Ino remarkably stated, her soft azure eyes gleaming mischievously.

Sakura nodded her head in agreement. "Yeah. Trust us, Ten-squared. This breakup is NOT going to last very long. You'll never know, you two might be eating each others' faces by the next minute."

Tenten scrunched up her nose in disgust. "_Puh-lease_. What do you know about it?"

Ino and Sakura shared glanced and shrugged. "You're asking the Love Gurus here, HELLO?"

"Riiiiight. But I'm telling you, Hyuuga Neji is a jerk." Tenten rolled her eyes, but she didn't sound like she really meant it. "He's got everything I hate about men. And I'm serious. I can't believe I just noticed that now."

Ino flipped back her long hair. "Suuuure. Keep on lying to yourself. If you knew that, you wouldn't have gone out with him."

"Exactly my point why I have no single idea I went out with him." Tenten huffed, "That bastard."

"Why exactly are you so angry with him, anyways?" Sakura queried in curiosity. Ino followed with a nod.

Tenten suddenly fell silent and she turned away from the two. After a moment of contemplation, she spoke in a murmur, "I'm not. It's just—I don't know…. I'm not mad, I think. I'm just—can we just drop it?"

Sakura and Ino gave her looks of uncertainty. They looked at each other and then back at Tenten.

"I'm sorry," Tenten began. "I just really needed to clear my mind off."

Sakura nodded in understanding. "No, we should be the one to be sorry. I mean, you don't seem to appreciate our 'help' at all."

"Yeah," Ino sighed but she gave her older friend a disappointed look. "But you know? This is something juicy."

Tenten gave her a meaningful look.

The Love Gurus knew it was hopeless to try and tease their friend. Maybe another time. They knew she was displeased about the situation right now. And there was only one thing to do…

"Hey," Sakura began. "Who's up for some comfort food?"

Ino glanced at Tenten with a wink. "Heck, yeah!"

Tenten glanced at the two. Finally, a grin bloomed on her face. "Where's the nearest ice cream stand?"

…And the Baskin' Robbins booth decided to show up across the street.

Tenten never felt happier at that moment.

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That was almost two and a half months ago, the day after they ended the relationship. (Well, she initiated it.) Tenten still didn't understand how it all began but she knew they had just come to an end. Not that she was depressed about it.

"Hey Hinata," she called out to her friend. "Mind giving me a hand?"

Hyuuga Hinata jumped and squeaked with complete nervousness when she came near. "T-T-Tenten-san!!"

Tenten knew why. Ever since she broke up with Neji, Hinata had been trying to avoid her. Apparently, the sweet Hyuuga girl felt she was part of the responsibility about her Neji's and her breakup, which was kind of true but that wasn't the point. Hinata was not part of all the mess, and will never be (maybe). Everything was only between Neji and her. Or maybe only about herself (because Tenten believed she was a problematic person and that Ino was right about her mental disorders).

The auburn haired maiden stared at her naïve friend with a funny expression. Then, she snorted. "Hinata, we talked about this already. Stop acting like I'm a monster or something. There's nothing to be afraid of, OK?"

But Hinata wasn't convince as she clutched her fist tight on her chest. "B-But N-Neji-n-nii-san—"

"Don't worry about it. Neji's not the one to blame." Tenten paused, "Well, kind of. But I just don't want you to get involved, alright?" _Duh. _I_ am the one to blame. Oh, who am I kiddin'? Neji was being a jerk. _

After a few minutes of comprehension, Hinata blushed embarrassedly and nodded meekly. "O-OK…."

"And please, don't feel bad about Neji," Tenten said, not quite meaning it. "Now, come on. Lend me a hand so I could get over this quickly."

Hinata immediately rushed into action and helped Tenten pick up the scattered textbooks on the library floor. No one was in there except them because it was lunch break, and they volunteered to clean the library. Actually, it was Tenten's job; Hinata only offered to help.

Silence filled the room and it irked both occupants to no end. Normally, it would be okay, but right now, the tension was too thick to bear. So then, the blue haired Hyuuga heiress proceeded to break it. Surprisingly.

"N-Neji-nii-san…" she began. "He…feels responsible…a-about all…t-this…um…between you and him."

Hinata glanced upwards to check the elder girl's reaction. Tenten didn't seem to be affected at all as she hummed in response. But for a split second, the Hyuuga girl wondered if she was imagining things when she saw a flicker of confusion passing the other's amber eyes.

Then, Tenten finally spoke—in a quiet voice barely audible. Almost a whisper. "No, he's not. There is no me and him anymore—it's _over_, Hinata. You shouldn't let yourself be bothered about it."

"O-Oh…." Hinata let her eyes drop. "B-But please, I just—"

"I can't believe this," Tenten huffed and gave the Hyuuga girl a doubting gaze. "Hinata, is Neji involving you into this mess? Is he using YOU to backstab me or something? Does he think he could just fool me that easily? Are you on _his_ side?"

Hinata's eyes widened and she shook her head frantically. "N-NO! No, Neji-nii-san isn't u-using me! I-I'm not on his side!! A-And he's n-not gonna fool you!" Upon hearing, Tenten's snort of protest, she held her hands up defensively. "He w-won't fool you, s-senpai! I promise!"

"Then _why_ are you doing this?" Tenten asked as she finished organizing the last row of books. "You know it's over—and what happened was not any of your business."

Hinata knew Tenten didn't mean it to be rude, but it struck her (because _she_ is somehow a part of it all). Lowering her gaze, she mumbled enough to be audible. "I just want to help…."

Pausing midway, Tenten stared at the younger girl. "For what?"

There was no response but Hinata was fidgeting and poking her fingers again, which meant she didn't really know what to say.

Tenten knew it was impossible to make her friend say whatever she wanted to say, so clucking her tongue, she just shrugged off the subject.. "You know what, Hina-chan? Just drop it. I'm tired of talking about the same thing anyway." Pausing, she grinned. "I'm starving. Let's go get something to eat."

_I did the RIGHT thing. Besides, it wasn't meant to be._

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"I can't believe this," Tenten breathed out exasperatedly, her brows knitted in a frustrated frown and lips twisted in dismay. "I can't believe _this_. I REALLY CAN'T."

It was afterschool and the girls decided to meet up at the ladies' bathroom, near Hinata, Ino, and Sakura's class. They just received their positions for the year and apparently, Tenten wasn't so please about the results.

Beside her, Ino and Sakura rolled their eyes. "We can believe it," they said in unison, both applying light glosses on their lips.

"I CAN'T!"

"…P-Please calm down, Tenten-senpai!" Hinata tried, turning away from the sink and consoling Tenten.

"I CAN'T!"

"You are _sooo_ overreacting." Ino remarked.

"NO! I'm NOT!"

"What's wrong with it?" Sakura asked as she fixed her short bubblegum hair into low pigtails.

"WHY ME?"

"Because," Ino leaned over the basin, looking close into the mirror, as she applied little mascara. "It's you."

"IT DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE!"

Sakura sighed as she proceeded to fix Hinata's medium-length shining dark blue hair. "Yes. It does. Doesn't it, Hina-chan?"

Smiling sheepishly, the Hyuuga girl nodded. "I think so…."

"Oh, I _know_ so," grinned Sakura finishing Hinata's hairdo into a low braid. "You look adorable as always!"

"T-Thank you," Hinata smiled.

"Um, hellooo? I need HELP!" Tenten interrupted, shaking her hands up in the air, which consisted of pages of papers. "Whoever began that Student Council crap—piss off!"

Hinata winced. "Senpai…"

"Don't you understand? Why _me_?" giving out a huge breath, Tenten slammed her hand on the basin in front of her. "Why not somebody else?"

"…Who else can take the job?" Ino asked with a scoff as she posed in front of the mirror, flipping her long platinum blonde hair from time to time.

"I don't know! You guys or anybody! But ME." Tenten cried out and then sniffed with a funny look on her face. "Hinata, are you wearing Ino's perfume?"

"U-Um…" blushing, the blue haired teen nodded meekly. "Yes…"

"Oh," Tenten scrunched up her nose. "Is that _Marc Jacobs_, Sakura?"

Glancing at the badge on her tie, Sakura giggled. "Duh. It is."

"Anyways, back on track," Ino began as she snapped her fingers. "Ten-squared, we're just saying that there's nothing wrong with you being the Student Council Secretary. We think it's awesome."

The elder of all gave a glare. "I think it's not. I think it's the end of my world, Ino."

"Well, don't blame it on us. Blame it on Ms. Principal." Sakura cut in, "I'm pretty sure only Tsunade-sama has the power to set everything in this school."

"Duh," Tenten rolled her eyes. "I could try and give her a whip but I'm pretty sure she won't let me live the next second."

Her girl friends simultaneously nodded giving out their silent agreement.

Sakura spoke after a moment of silence. "I like my position."

Hinata smiled. "M-Me too…"

"I don't." Ino snorted.

Tenten raised her brows as she fixed her hair in a single coiled bun behind her head, clipping it with the butterfly ornamented pin that Ino handed her. "What do you guys have?"

"I'm part of the Public Welfare Committee, and guess what?" a very excited Sakura squealed. "Sasuke-kun's the Leader, which means I get to be with him!"

Ino rolled her eyes as she huffed. "Who cares? Tell that to his face."

"Whatever, Ino-pig. You're just jealous you're not with Shikamaru," Sakura protested smugly. "And besides, it's not like I'll ever say it into his face. I like Sasuke-kun but he could be mean sometimes…"

Hinata sighed as she broke off the argument that was about to start. "I'm part of the Library and Correspondence Committee…"

"Awesome," Tenten whistled under her breath. "And you, Ino?"

Ino gave a small grin. "Public Morals Committee, which isn't so bad but I still wanted Hinata's position."

"Yeah," Sakura agreed. Then with a sly grin, she continued. "She's got a good one. Too bad though, Naruto's not part of it."

Immediately blushing crimson in heated embarrassment, Hinata squeaked. "S-S-SAKURA-CHAN!"

Giving out high-fives, Tenten and Ino gave out small laughs, patting poor Hinata's back. "Just kiddin'!"

Finally, after a moment of teasing, the bun-haired senior mumbled under her breath. "I still can't believe I'm the S.C. Secretary…."

"Well, you've got a high position, so be happy!" Ino laughed. "Besides, what's so bad about it?"

"I'm also the Accountant Chief, which means more responsibility, not that I'm complaining. I just didn't want to be part of the Council at all." Tenten responded. "And besides, I need a load of math for this year."

Sakura and Hinata gave her smiles. The pinkette spoke, "You're a senior so it's understandable. We're just sophomores."

Tenten shrugged. "Not the problem, really."

"Then what's your problem, senpai?" Hinata asked in curiosity.

Tenten paused and gave her friends a long hardened stare that said help-me-I-am-nuts. "The S.C. Chief is the last person I've ever wanted it to be."

"O…K…who is it?" Ino asked eagerly. Beside her, Sakura nodded in anticipation.

"Although I _knew_ it would be him, I still refuse to believe it," Tenten spoke in an I-am-desperate-so-kick-me look. "Hyuuga Neji, the Student Council Chief, my boss in this entire campus—HOW GREAT IS THAT?!"

Gaps echoed in the bathroom.

"NO WAY." Sakura gaped.

"Yes way!" Tenten gave a whimper.

"THIS IS JUICY!" Ino squealed in delight. "You gotta record this to your newspaper lists, Hinata!"

Hinata looked frightful. "W-What? B-But I—"

"Lovers' Spat: Neji-sama and Ten-squared." Ino grinned, "AWESOME."

Tenten was ready to strangle the blonde if not for Hinata and Sakura holding her back. "YOU MAGGOT! COME BACK HERE."

A cackling Ino flew out the ladies' bathroom, and Sakura and Hinata dragged a sulking Tenten to follow.

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_They ditched me._

_They ditched me!_

_THEY DITCHED ME!!_

It was only a matter of time before Tenten realized that she was standing in front of her locker all alone. Without her best friends. Without anyone but herself…and her locker.

A minute ago they were just fooling around like kindergartens and when she suddenly turned around to speak at them, they just had to ditch her. For what reason? No idea.

"Some friends they are," she grumbled under her breath with a grunt. "Think they could get away that easily? Hah, dream on. Grrr…these textbooks are pain in the butt! This is the most annoying cra—"

"Excuse me," a voice was suddenly heard behind her. A voice that was suspiciously very _familiar_. "You're in the way."

_Oh, who cares? It's just probably some random kid. _Tenten thought as she continued reorganizing her locker. "You just won't fit in, will you? I'm gonna go strangle the Principal for buying these gigantic textbooks. I don't even need them! Heck, who needs them?! I swear—Ooohh—! That freakin' HURT! Grr…"

"Excuse me," there it was again but Tenten pretended she had some hearing problems and aided her poor hand, whimpering now and then.

She was unaware of the footsteps coming nearer to her, being too caught up with her bleeding hand, which was jammed by the newly bought mathematics' textbook and was scraped not-too-gently on the sharp corner of her locker door. Standing up, she accidentally smashed her forehead on the edge of her locker.

Cursing under her breath, she groaned out as she leaned her head on her locker, which was finally closed and successfully reorganized. She started babbling to herself again, which was not very wise, considering her voice echoed like a hundred miles away. "Somebody help me!! I was ditched by my friends, now I have a bloody hand, and I just broke my head _again_! And I'm hearing things I shouldn't be hearing! I'm hallucinating! WHAT DO I DO?? God must _reeeeeaaally_ love meeee…."

"Let me see."

Tenten swore the little hairs behind her neck stood up as she suddenly shivered when THE VOICE came breathing down on her. _So close…soclosesoclosesoclosesooooclooooseee…!!_

She swore she was just about to lose her heart out and would have been screaming bloody murder, if not for the fact that her head was burning in pain and her pinky got broken.

"Look." Gulping, she mustered up the courage and spoke in a don't-try-and-bite-me-I-will-eat-you tone. "Whoever you are, if you don't step ten feet away within three nanoseconds, I'll be forced to eat your lovely face."

"…Let me see your hand."

She was just about to scream again. _Okay, calm down, act cool, and give him a whip…_

"I. Don't. Need. Your. _HELP_." She gritted out, "And stop breathing down my neck!"

Before she knew it, she was yanked with such force and her vision was altered a perfect 180 degrees, and she was suddenly facing the last person she ever wanted to see in the whole wide planet.

_Guess I wan't hallucinating after all…!_

"Wh—Wha—" She gaped. "WHAT THE HECK?"

_I should have known, I should've known! _

"What're you do—" Then, she yelped. "OOHH! That hurts! Let go, you jerk!"

"No." Hyuuga Neji wasn't in the mood to play games. Not right now, but she was making it harder for him. "Stay still."

Flabbergasted, Tenten faked a gasp and snatched her hand away from his grasp. "Did you suddenly consider and finally pull out that stick up your ass, Hyuuga? I can take care of myself!"

But he wasn't letting her go that easily. Reaching for her hand once again, he examined it closely. It wasn't that bad, except that it had a huge bumpy bruise from the jamming textbook and it was bleeding from a long but shallow cut. Maybe it _was_ bad.

"OOOHH! Damn it, you bastard! I told you that hurts! ARGH—" Tenten kept on whimpering but was cut off when Neji was suddenly pulling out gauze from his pocket to bandage her hand in a proper way. _Jerk…_

She watched him work intently, which confused her to no end. Wasn't he bothered that she broke up with him? Didn't he think she was a bitch for being rude for no reason? Wasn't he bothered that they were over now? Wasn't he supposed to avoid her and ditch her like she was nobody?

Who was she kidding? This was Hyuuga Neji and he just didn't care the way normal people do. He's just probably thinking it was his responsibility as the S.C. Chief. Or maybe he pitied her. At that thought, Tenten scoffed. _He knows better than that._

It was nice that he was helping, but she didn't like. No, not at all. Tenten suddenly gave small sigh, not noticing that Neji glanced at her for a moment.

_Maybe I don't really hate him much…_

Maybe he wasn't the one affected at all. It was _her_ that was being bothered.

_Oh, who cares? At least he's helping._

She tried to take a peek and look at him, but paused when she caught him staring at her with those incredibly mesmerizing eyes (the ones that hooked her to him). Blinking, she turned away as quickly as she could, flinching slightly when her temple hit her locker _again_. "Gee, thanks…" she mumbled and took her hand away from his firm grasp, not-too-nicely.

_Okaaaay…what was that?!_

"Does it hurt?" Neji asked in a murmur, which did _not_ please Tenten at all (because it was distracting and _too_ nice). And suddenly, he was brushing away her bangs and pressing his fingers lightly on the wound on her forehead.

Resisting the urge to punch the daylights out of him, Tenten shove his hand for like the third time that moment and nodded. "Y-Yeah…"

She saw him raise an elegant brow at her, and instantly took back her words. "I mean, NO. I'm…fine. It doesn't hurt…much."

"If you say so," he nodded and stepped away from her. Tenten gave a sigh of relief when he did (because he was _too_ close!). "Be more careful."

"Ye—" Tenten paused and narrowed her eyes, finally remembering that this was Neji—the last person she ever wanted to see. So she reconsidered her words and shrugged with a defiant scoff, "Whatever."

Neji glanced at her impassively for quite a long moment. His eyes searched for something that she didn't really want to know. And then he was beside her, opening his locker (which was at the very end and next to hers).

Tenten turned away, trying to get away as soon as she could. Picking up her things, she got ready to go, but paused when his deep but smooth voice flowed to her ears.

"You have weird friends," he said. They were back to back and she didn't know if he was smiling or not. But he raised a finger and pointed towards the main entrance of the campus, where she saw her besties' not-so-unfamiliar colorful heads. They were spying on her on purpose! When they saw her, she heard their loud squeaks and scurrying footsteps away, like rabbits being chased by a wolf.

_Ah, so that's why they ditched me._

"Those bitches," Tenten muttered under her breath, which was quite audible. "I'm gonna go kill them."

Preparing to run and chase the maggots, Tenten stopped midway when Neji's voice reached her ears once again. She looked over her shoulder and saw him smirking slightly at her.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Tenten."

Giving him a roll of her eyes, Tenten huffed. "Tomorrow, bastard."

And then walked away, ready to strangle her so-called best friends.

It's official: _I still hate Hyuuga Neji._

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**footnotes:** Yes, yes, I know. New story! I think it'll be a hard habit for me to break and stop posting new stories when I still have others to finish. Speaking of which…

/ **thy dear bittersweet…** / —on HIATUS. For now. I've written a few chapters (2-3) but I'm too lazy to post them. They are being edited.

/ **Romance Eat My Butt** / —I don't really know what to do with this one, but I know that this is probably up to 15 chapters. This is possibly going to be edited (maybe not) but I will still continue this one whenever I feel like it.

Anyways, this new story (as in THIS one) is probably boring and weird at first but I'll try and promise that it will get interesting. (IT MUST!) But as of now, I'll be posting more and more new stories. (I know, I know. I should finish everything first, right?) It's easier for me to post them and update later on. Well, I _am_ a rather slow updater—you know? School and because I'll be in University next year, I'll be even more busy and I'll have loads of work.

But who cares? I could update if I have time and whenever I feel like it. (Though, I could be a procrastinator sometimes.)

Enough of my babbling!

Now, if you please, you could send a REVIEW, COMMENT, or STUFFS. Light CRITICISM is fine, but no flames please. (:DDD) I'm still trying to work on my writing style. I'm not much of a writer (AT ALL! I'm more like a novel-worm) but hey, I try. Oh, and excuse any mistake…(;DDD)

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—_**.dear KiSMETT**_


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